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The rain depression stuff is really normal NQ QLD just so many make a big thing of it all down in SE Q..................................some Navy mates are sitting it out at Canungra Show ground, pics show a bit of water over some roads, hope my place doesn't loose power or not for too long, I have bait in a fridge.

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The rain depression stuff is really normal NQ QLD just so many make a big thing of it all down in SE Q..................................some Navy mates are sitting it out at Canungra Show ground, pics show a bit of water over some roads, hope my place doesn't loose power or not for too long, I have bait in a fridge.

I just read of a nice trick to tell if the freezer has defrosted. Doesn't help you this time.

Fill a small glass with water and put it in the freezer. When it has frozen put a coin on top of the ice. If you come home and the coin is at the bottom of the glass, the freezer has defrosted while you were away.

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Not with Bait, no way I'm opening the door, it can be lethal..................Sorry @JS4910 we seem to be wandering off course again, hope your hanging in there okay, should be good to get down in a few days I suppose, carry a chain saw just in case though as well as gum boots.

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Luckily the sun broke through in just enough time to hit the road and land south, wedding went off without a hitch (except for the bride and groom) and we had 10 days of mixed weather with showers and wind just about every day.

Didn't stop us getting out and about although the middle child came down with a case of mal-de-mer although not as bad as when we were at Bagara this time but it did put the brakes on some activities.

Went to Crikey World (Australia Zoo) and Underwater world, wow these places are exy for entry these days, luckily we last went to Crikey World 11yrs ago and at $220 to get through the turnstiles it will probably be another 11yrs before the next time, mind you the aquarium wasn't much better at $134, I think we'll go somewhere where there are no attractions next time.

Again the van performed faultlessly and no leaks or major issues and we were happy campers despite the sometimes unpleasant conditions.

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Tell me about it, makes for an expensive holiday, next time it will be beach worming lessons and digging pippies while I wind the whiting in with no expensive attractions in sight.........................lol

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Gin Gin has my favourite Pie Shop.......................................................you drove all a round my place, if we were home you could have shown me how to catch Whiting....................................................................
Many,many,many moons ago we had soil testers as well as a rock cruncher but the Snail tester still sends shivers over me, not to mention Dog tongue cleaner...................all still living, except for the dog........................

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Pulled off another short trip over the ANZAC extended weekend, well for us anyway.

Slipped out to Boynedale Bush Camp for 4 days off grid, and the beauty is that it's only about 25km from home.

Nice spot with plenty of open grassed areas and a few shade trees on the banks of the top end of Lake Awoonga.

It's provided free of charge by the Gladstone Area Water Board and has a long drops, a couple of shade shelters and scattering of fire pits. Prime sites along the waterfront looked hotly contested by the grey nomads and a few looked rather comfy for a max of 7 days stay. Didn't really worry us as it's not too warm this time of year and I wanted full sun to keep the solar pumping the batteries. We picked a spot near a shade shelter with fire pit and plenty of grass and space from neighbours, although they did keep rolling in on saturday and sunday. In fact it was busier than Easter weekend when we did a quick scout to see what the place was like, the recent cyclone and floods may have stopped a few then though.

Took the dog and kayak aswell and threw a few pots in for Redclaw but only scored the one over the couple of days we had them soaking, that is unless we were sharing our haul with others, you can never tell these days with all the helpful people about checking your pots before you get to them.

Had a cracker fire each night and did most of our cooking on it, which was a nice change as I haven't cooked over coals for some time. Weather was pretty well perfect except for the rain that came through on Saturday afternoon, although with the van it made no difference to us, the fire didn't go out and nothing else got wet.

Did bugger all really, and spent some time with Mr 5yo walking around camp and the shoreline talking all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff, quite amazing where their thought processes go..............................lol

Had a paddle around and thoroughly enjoyed it, had forgotten how calming and peaceful it is just paddling with no set destination, something we intend to do a bit more of real soon.

Didn't bother bringing the fishing gear and really didn't miss it as time was spent in other activities or doing nothing...................lol

Once again the Starry performed fantastic with the only hiccup being the HWS stopping and not running on gas on the Monday, a quick call to Warburtons and through a garbled conversation (next to no mobile service there) it tried clearing the jet and away it went with no further issues.

So our first full off grid trip was a huge success, power and water lasted, we even ran the TV at night for the two little's and the stereo was going most of the time too and no sign of running out of power so really happy about that.

I'll post some pics up soon once I get them of the phone.

Oh one last thing, the night sky was nothing short of amazing, open fire and a sky full of stars it doesn't get much better to waste the night away.

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No real trips away as such, but did have the van down in Brisbane in May as we were called down to say goodbye to my father who passed away towards the end of May, I'm glad I was able to be there to say goodbye because it was only a matter of days from when we were advised by the hospital, I miss him dearly but his last 6 months were far from the best for him and he is in a better place now.

We lived in the van for 3 weeks in Mum and Dads backyard as my sister and her family were in the house, it all worked very well and we are still very happy with the layout and functionality of the van.

Due to recent happenings and a couple of shocks with some other close family members we have decided that the time is now and will be hitting the road full time towards the last quarter of 2018, I will have my Long Service leave up by then which will give us a kick start before we need to look for work to continue. It will be a very loose plan, if any at all, the weather, need for funds and or what takes our fancy at the time will decide our movements or lack of, time frame is indefinite, could be 6 months or 6 years.

So now the prepping of the van and car start in earnest, so expect some regular updates, as well as some trip reports as we shakedown mod's before the big day arrives, whenever that will be.

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It's been a terrible year for our little clan, we lost both Dad in May and Mum went to be by his side in November. They are happy together again.

Interwoven between these events have been the constant trips to the childrens hospital in Brisbane for surgery and treatments for our youngest, so although we have taken the van on a couple of occasions most trips are rather rushed and we needed to stay close by the hospital so the van stayed at home.

We are heading off to Brisbane again with van in tow for a couple of weeks to spend Xmas with my sister and clean out mum and dads house ready for sale.

Now to the more positive news, we are heading off next year sometime around May for an indefinite trip around the country, no plans and no time limit.

And we're buying a new van to do it in, about to order a 19.61-3 OB Starcraft/Journey for delivery in April, as usual it will be loaded with all my add on's.

So after Xmas our 17.58-1 OB is for sale and I will post up a separate add in the for sale section.

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What a big year for you and sorry for your loss. A great year ahead by the sound of it though. Will be a tough Christmas I guess, i hope you enjoy it as much as you can.
Looking forward to all of the stories next year!